


Cat and Mouse

by 18lzytwner



Series: Law & Order SVU Third Series [5]
Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-07-08 09:13:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 14,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15927356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/18lzytwner/pseuds/18lzytwner
Summary: The team is trying to track down a predator who keeps changing his MO. What happens when he starts taunting the police? How far is he willing to go to prove he's superior?





	1. Chapter 1

The phone rang in the middle of the night and there was a lot of fumbling around to answer it in the dark. Finally, he managed to grab it and answer it.

"Stabler,"

"It's Munch. Fin and I could use your help," the Sergeant said. Elliot looked over at the clock and groaned.

"It's two thirty in the morning. Did you guys not go home?" He asked. When he and his partner had left for the night, Munch and Fin were out investigating a new lead on the case they were working.

"We're at a second crime scene. Bastard struck again and this time he left no witnesses," Munch explained.

"Shit. All right. Give me the address and I'll roust Liv," Elliot replied. The Sergeant quickly gave him the address and then hung up. By now, Olivia was out of the bed they had shared and ducking into the bathroom for a quick shower. He climbed out of bed and walked into the bathroom.

"Mind if I cut in?" He asked.

"Well, only if you promise to behave yourself. We can't be fooling around," she gave him a slight smirk.

"I'll try to control myself," Elliot promised. They did the best they could not to get themselves all worked up as they scrubbed the previous evening's events off. There had been a rash of cases that had not taken long to solve, which had meant they'd been spending more time together than they had been able to previously. Both wished they could move in together but they knew that they would need to explain to IAB. While always a tough thing to do, whoever was gunning for the Captain, was watching the unit and they knew it.

They arrived at the crime scene a little while later to find Munch and Fin had practically finished up. Elliot was a little upset at that but they couldn't get there any quicker since they still had to make it look like he had to pick Olivia up from her place.

"So you got us out of bed for a lousy cup of coffee?" Olivia tried to crack a joke as Munch handed them some of the hot beverage. The scene was on the third floor of an apartment building not too far from Pier Ninety-two.

"We know how much you like lousy coffee," Fin smirked.

"So what makes you think it is the same guy? Who found the body?" Elliot asked, given the odd hour of the night.

"The roommate found the body and they had to sedate her and get her to the hospital to get checked out. The roommate's boyfriend is who called nine-one-one," Munch started. The victim had been found on the couch and the unsuspecting couple had practically had a heart attack when they turned on the living room lights.

"So they get in from a night of clubbing and find our victim. So what makes you think it's the same one that assaulted Christina Lawrence?" Olivia wanted to know.

"At first, they didn't look at all the same. Christina was walking home and he drags her into an alley, assaults her, and then knocks her unconscious, leaving her to have the local homeless guy call for help. Our victim here, Susan Johnson, was locked inside her apartment. Melinda thinks that our perp might not have meant to kill her but she won't know for certain until she finishes the autopsy," Fin explained.

"Why would she guess that?" Elliot raised an eyebrow.

"We found medication in the medicine cabinet that had Susan's name on it. She had a clotting disorder," Munch said.

"A big jump from attacking someone on the street to breaking into an apartment," Olivia frowned.

"The door wasn't jimmied so either she let him in or he climbed in via the fire escape," Fin told them.

"Then I guess we had better get to work on next of kin, the roommate and her boyfriend, and any possible boyfriends for Susan," Elliot said.


	2. Chapter 2

Fin and Munch were busy handling notifying Susan Johnson's parents. They lived in Ohio and since they couldn't give the bad news in person, Munch had called the local precinct who promised to handle it and see if the parents would allow them to look at Susan's medical records. Melinda confirmed that the medication in Susan's bathroom was in fact treatment for a clotting disorder but it treated multiple disorders and if she knew which one she was dealing with then she might be able to pinpoint time of death better. The liver temperature had been odd and doing the math meant that somehow Susan had died before her roommate's boyfriend had swung by the apartment. While the boyfriend could have done it, the fact that both people seemed very distressed at the scene made it less likely. Kenny had headed out to the club to get any surveillance footage they had and interview the workers.

"Karen, how long have you known Mark?" Olivia asked the roommate. The younger woman had finally come around from her sedative and was able to answer questions, even though the hospital wanted to keep her for at least twenty four hours. So Olivia was questioning her while Elliot was questioning the boyfriend out in the hallway.

"We've been dating for six months," the brunette answered.

"Did he ever make advances toward Susan or inappropriate comments?" The detective wondered.

"No, he was always nice to her. You think he did this to her?" Karen's eyes grew large.

"We have to ask, that's all. Did Susan have a boyfriend?" Olivia tried to redirect the conversation, not wanting to excite her.

"Part of the reason Susan moved to New York was because she was different. Her family and her small town in Ohio didn't understand," the younger woman said.

"Different? Different, how?" The detective wanted to know. This piqued her interest and she wondered just what Susan was into. Karen heaved a sigh like she wasn't sure how to explain.

"It's ok to tell me. I know it might seem like you're giving up something that maybe Susan didn't want everyone to know but it might help us find who did this to her," Olivia tried to reassure her. That's when there was a knock on the door and her boyfriend, Mark, poked his head in the door. Karen started to cry and he went over to her, concerned that this was all too much for her. Elliot slipped in behind him and closed the door. Mark moved to stand next to the bed and he pulled her into his side, kissing the top of her head. Olivia didn't want to push her but something seemed off, like Karen was very attached to her roommate, rather than just a friend.

"I'm sorry," the woman sobbed.

"For what sweetie?" Mark was confused and he was obviously more concerned.

"We have to tell them," Karen said.

"I know. There's nothing to worry about. I already told Detective Stabler. We have to do this for Susan," he tried to reassure her. Nudging her over in the bed, he sat down on the edge so he could hold his girlfriend even closer. That's when a nurse came into the room and shooed the detectives out; obviously, her patient was still not calmed down and needed to be looked at.

"What did Mark tell you that Karen couldn't?" Olivia asked as they headed down the hall and toward the elevator. Elliot looked around, not wanting to say in front of a crowd of people.

"It's a bit of a love triangle but in the way you'd think," he said as the elevator doors opened and they got on. Olivia raised an eyebrow and waited for him to continue, once the elevator doors closed.

"Seems that Karen was in love with Susan but she also loves Mark and Susan was in love with Karen," he said.

"Ah ha and Mark was ok with his girlfriend having another girlfriend?" She asked.

"Apparently, the three of them were getting along just fine and getting satisfied on a regular basis. To be honest, given how new the relationship was, I'm not sure that anyone thought ahead. They were getting sex and enjoying each other's company so it was all sunshine and roses," Elliot said.

"Yeah until it wasn't. Not sure I believe that we can cross the boyfriend off just yet," Olivia told him.

"We need to see if Kenny got lucky with those tapes and if we can tie Mark to Christina. Though I have to admit, Mark would have known about Susan' clotting disorder so I'm not sure that killing her in the apartment would be the smartest thing to do. He doesn't strike me as an idiot or a big risk taker," her partner pointed out. Olivia was about to agree when her phone rang,

"Benson." Elliot waited patiently for her to get off the phone as they exited the elevator and headed for their car.

"What's up?" He asked once they got in the car and she hung up.

"Munch said a letter was just delivered to the Captain and it said, "Me – Two, Cops – Zero." They're putting a protective detail on Christina in case this guy gets any ideas and having the letter analyzed by forensics," she told him. Elliot turned on the siren and pulled out into traffic, heading for the precinct.


	3. Chapter 3

"Forensics has the letter but I have no idea how the person who sent it knew to address it to me," Cragen frowned. They were all meeting in the bullpen to discuss this latest development.

"Well how many press conferences have you done?" Munch wondered from the seat at his desk. Over the years it had to be close to fifty, if not more.

"That's true but what average citizen keeps track of that? I mean, I'm just a face on TV and forgotten just as quickly as what you ate for dinner," the Captain said. He'd perched himself on the corner of Olivia's desk closest to their board.

"I would have to agree, no offense Cap," Olivia said, turning her head toward him.

"I'm wounded, Liv, of everyone here, I didn't expect it from you. Kenny maybe…" Cragen feigned hurt, putting his hand on his chest.

"Hey!" Kenny was pretending to be upset, getting out of his chair and moving to plunk down on the corner of Munch's desk.

"Got it from his Uncle," the elder detective chimed in. By now, Fin was smirking, almost chuckling from his desk.

"So our suspect likes to pay attention," Elliot said through his own smirking at his desk.

"So it would seem. Even if the surveillance tapes are gone through, I don't think we have to worry about Karen and Mark. The bartender remembered them. TARU is scanning the video now to confirm," Kenny spoke up.

"In a crowded club?" Olivia raised an eyebrow.

"They're regulars and they hung out with other regulars that night. We have at least six other people who saw them," the younger man explained.

"Ok so let's move off of them. If TARU finds something then we'll go harder at them. What have we got?" Cragen wondered. Fin left his chair and moved to the board.

"Christina Lawrence is dragged into an alley, raped, and beaten. No one saw our rapist. Susan Johnson was alone in her apartment, raped, and then beaten, which unfortunately led to her death. Melinda is still working on the autopsy but as of right now, the murder may have been an accident," he said.

"Any DNA? Fibers?" The Captain wanted to know.

"No DNA. Our perp used a condom, which given his first attack, must have been a heck of a thing. Usually when a perp attacks and drags someone into an alley, its spur of the moment. Most don't have protection on them," Olivia frowned.

"I think we need to start assuming that nothing our guy does is spur of the moment," Elliot said.

"I would concur. I'm putting a call into Huang. We need some help here. In the meantime, I want his MO put into ViCAP. No way has he nailed down his method with just two victims. Also, get on Melinda and forensics. We're going to need all the ammo we can get. When are Susan's parents coming in?" Cragen asked.

"They aren't," Munch said with disgust.

"Pardon?" The Captain gave him a look.

"According to them, Susan chose her lifestyle and it is what got her killed. They want her body shipped home but they won't come and get her," Fin explained.

"They do know that being gay is not a choice right?" Olivia asked.

"I don't think they care about that. They care that she was going against God and making them look bad at church," Munch shook his head. Looking over at her partner, Olivia saw him clenching his fists. As a Catholic, he knew that some preached that being gay was against God but he also knew what he saw at his job, and it rubbed him the wrong way when someone would throw away any relationship with their children.

"Get to work," Cragen heaved a sigh and headed back to his office.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some adult jokes coming up in this chapter, just a heads up. ;)

"Please tell me that you didn't drag us all the way down here to tell us you had nothing," Olivia teased Rich the CSU tech. He had called them after lunch saying he might have something and figured they'd want to know. However, after revealing that he was still waiting on Melinda for a few things, they were beginning to wonder what he had exactly.

"I would never. Now Lizzie on the other hand…" he trailed off. He was standing in front of one of the large moveable bulletin boards with photos attached to it.

"I heard that," the car accident analyzer teased him from a few spots away in the lab.

"Munch said she was nothing but trouble. Of course if you don't fill us in, you're going to be in trouble," Elliot said.

"Yes well, can't have that," Rich said before turning their attention to the evidence.

"I went back over Christina Lawrence's crime scene and I found something that at the time wasn't overly helpful," he explained pointing to the picture of a shoe print in some sort of dark substance on the board in front of him.

"A shoe print in goo. Yes I could see how that wouldn't be helpful by itself," Olivia nodded.

"That goo turned out to be roofing tar. The building on one side of the alley was being reroofed and it seems they weren't too careful when working," Rich explained.

"This is fascinating," Elliot gave him a look and Rich continued,

"It's fascinating because I found roofing tar on the fire escape and on Susan Johnson's carpet."

"Our perp was careful but he didn't check his shoes," Olivia nodded.

"So if we find someone with a matching shoe print and some tar then we might be in business," Elliot said.

"You're on the lookout for size twelve work boots," Rich let them know.

"Size twelve? Wow," Olivia was surprised as it was not the typical size shoe.

"Anything else of note?" Her partner wondered.

"I'm still sifting through the fingerprints from the fire escape but one of the sets came back to Joshua Holland. His prints were in the system after a conviction for jumping a turnstile and possession of marijuana," the tech said, handing them a file from his desk.

"So he jumps to rape?" Olivia took a look at the file.

"Well he doesn't live at the building so probably just start with what he was doing there first," Rich smiled.

"Playing detective huh?" Elliot chuckled.

"I try," Rich smirked. With that the two detectives thanked him and then headed for their car. Olivia's phone rang on the way out and she answered it while they walked. By the time they had gotten settled in the vehicle, the call was over.

"Anything interesting?" He asked.

"Melinda called and Fin and Munch are heading down to see her. I told them we were tracking down the fingerprint match," she said. Elliot nodded and fired up the car, then pulled it into traffic.

"You know that old wives tale about shoe size…" he trailed off.

"Don't worry big boy, your secret is safe with me," she chuckled, knowing that at least in Elliot's case, that myth didn't hold water.

"Hey!" Elliot feigned offense.

"I'd say the exact opposite is true. Our guy wants to prove something. It's obvious from the note he sent to the precinct and the fact that he keeps upping his chances of getting caught," Olivia said.

"He's compensating for something," he agreed.

"We all know that you don't need to. Keep that thought for later though. We don't need to get out of the car with either one of us worked up," she chuckled again.

"I make no promises," Elliot chuckled.


	5. Chapter 5

"So what do you think Doc?" Munch asked. They all had reconvened in the bull pen to compare notes from their stops at a possible suspect's place and the coroner's office.

"Typically, serial killers leave these kinds of notes. They want you to know that they're smarter than you, or at least they think they are. Very rarely are serial killers actually smarter than the law enforcement officials chasing them. It is their psychopathy or sociopathy that is what is hard to figure out," Huang frowned.

"We were wondering if he left it because we would not have put the two cases together given the difference in MOs," Fin said.

"Could be that he wants to point you in the right direction. While Melinda supposed that the death of Susan Johnson was an accident, perhaps it wasn't meant to be," the FBI agent continued to frown.

"You think it was just another part of his escalation?" Olivia wondered.

"Well attacking someone in an alley and then breaking into their apartment, are two different animals, and the same could be said for having one victim survive and the other not. Still, it obviously doesn't bother him because he was more than willing to take credit for it," Huang said.

"You've got that look…" Elliot trailed off.

"I hate to admit it but I don't think we actually are talking about one person," he shook his head.

"Well it's normal for someone to evolve during their crime sprees though right?" Cragen spoke up.

"You normally see this kind of escalation once the person has been provoked, like seeing the investigation to hit the news, or after the police have issued an APB. Of course there is always the possibility of a psychotic break but then you'd see a change in behavior. Sped up attacks, more violent attacks; this men or these men, are calculated, despite the change in MO," Huang frowned again.

"Well we're without any suspects. The one set of prints that CSU matched, came back to a Joshua Holland, who turns out does maintenance in Susan's building. He said that he'd been on the fire escape to test all of the windows just a few days prior because they had multiple tenants who said the windows were rattling in the wind. We confirmed his story with the landlord and there is no evidence he was inside Susan's apartment. In fact, the window in her apartment was due to be replaced the next day," Olivia frowned this time.

"So he's obviously still stalking his victims. If there is a partner, he could just be part of the surveillance team. Were there any hits in ViCAP?" The FBI agent asked.

"A few similar ones but no exact match. I've sent out messages to the local precincts that handled the cases. Kind of all over the map, really. We've got two assaults in Portland, Oregon, where the perp dragged the victim into an alley and then knocked them unconscious when he was done. Then in Salt Lake City, there was one assault where the victim's apartment was broken into and she was attacked when she walked in the door. There our perp had decided to use a condom. Another assault happened in Kansas City, where the victim was dragged into an alley and while the perp was putting on the condom, he was interrupted by some Good Samaritans who gave chase but lost him in the city streets. The last one was in Chicago. Perp broke into a house, knocked the victim unconscious, and then assaulted her. Again a condom was used," Cragen explained.

"So there is DNA on file," Olivia was optimistic.

"Yes and the case is only a year old, so Portland PD agreed to run it through the system again to see if they got any new leads. The other cities only have fingerprints but they have agreed to run them as well," the Captain said.

"What did Melinda have to say about Susan?" Elliot asked, realizing that Munch and Fin had yet to explain their trip down to the coroner's office.

"Susan's blood came back clean – no alcohol or illegal substances. She did test positive for her clotting medication, which wasn't a huge shock. Though the reason she bled out internally would be because there was a lot more damage than Melinda originally thought," Munch said.

"There were bruises on her thighs and forearms, which we expected, along with the hit to the head. However, there was a skull fracture, which we were not expecting. Since there was no bloody weapon at the scene, Melinda is trying to figure out what our perp or perps used," Fin filled in.

"So either the weapon was brought or it was stolen from the apartment. Munch get on the horn with Susan's roommates and see if they've discovered anything missing," Cragen ordered. The elder detective nodded when Olivia's desk phone rang. She quickly answered it and Elliot noticed her demeanor changed as she listened to the caller. Once she hung up, she announced,

"There's been another attack."


	6. Chapter 6

Elliot and Olivia arrived at the crime scene with Munch and Fin heading to the hospital to see what condition the victim was in. Again the perp had gotten into an apartment to attack his victim but unlike Susan Johnson's attack, this building didn't have a fire escape. Now as they walked up to the apartment's front door, they were met by the officers that had first responded to the scene.

"So what have we got?" Elliot asked as they walked in the front door.

"Neighbor across the hall, a Mr. Oscar Montoya, called it in. He grew concerned about the victim, a Michelle Doyle, when he was leaving his apartment and noticed her front door ajar. Found her lying on her bed, unconscious, half naked, and bleeding from a head wound. We told CSU to take his prints so we could exclude him," Officer Bloom explained.

"No hints that maybe he did it?" Olivia asked.

"We didn't get that vibe off of him. He was completely distraught. Anyone would be after finding their neighbor like that," Officer Ramirez said.

"Yeah he was so rattled that the medics had to sedate him," Bloom told them.

"Ok thanks officers," Elliot smiled slightly and he and his partner turned to the scene before them. He was a little surprised that the neighbor was that worked up and made a note to speak to him when they were done here.

"No fire escape so how did he manage to get into her apartment and no one noticed?" Olivia wondered standing in the middle of the living room. It was obvious that a struggle had occurred. The coffee table was skewed and the items that had been sitting on it now lay on the floor. A lamp laid on the floor, the bulb and shade broken.

"No forcible entry visible…" Elliot was looking at the lock and he frowned.

"Hey Rich, you guys take a look at this lock?" He asked suddenly.

"We fingerprinted it and took pictures. What's on your mind?" Rich wondered as she moved closer to the door from where he'd been looking at something in the kitchen.

"Well he had to get into the apartment somehow right?" Elliot inquired.

"Right and you're thinking that the victim didn't let him in," Olivia spoke up.

"We know our guy doesn't need to wait until he gets inside to attack…" he partner pointed out. If he wanted to get to Michelle he could have attacked her on her way home. There was an alley right next to the building.

"I'll take the entire lock in. Maybe he picked it," Rich nodded.

"He's obviously escalating. Not long in between attacks. No way he has time to surveil his targets and live a normal everyday life," Olivia frowned. That's when a shout came from the bedroom.

"Detectives!" It was Rich's colleague, Jackie. Quickly, they walked back to the bedroom to find the CSU tech pointing to something she found underneath the victim's pants, which had been flung on the floor.

"Me – Three, Cops – Zero," Olivia read. The note had been scrawled on a piece of paper that might have been some stationary Michelle owned.

"Well it's definitely our guy," Elliot frowned. Olivia's phone rang and she quickly answered it.

"Hit the lights would you?" Jackie asked. Rich flipped the light switch off and his coworker pulled out her black light. She made a quick pass over the pair of pants that had been on the floor.

"I got fluids," she frowned.

"Our guy might have just made his first mistake. He had to know that we would pick up the pants…" Elliot trailed off.

"He left the note under there. He definitely did know," Rich agreed before flicking the lights back on.

"So perhaps he has a helper after all," Elliot said.

"That was Munch. Michelle is awake and talking. Huang was right," Olivia told them.


	7. Chapter 7

The detectives all gathered back at the precinct, it was getting late in the day, about the time that everyday people went home. Now, instead of getting ready to leave, they were trying to piece together everything that had just developed in their case. Doctor Huang strode into the bullpen, having received a call from the Captain.

"So what have you got? Captain Cragen said that there'd been a big development," the FBI agent said.

"I'll say there was a big development. It seems that you were right, there are two of them," Munch spoke up before quickly explaining what the Doctor had missed up to this point.

"Today's victim, Michelle Doyle, was able to speak to us. She claims that when she returned home from her day, she was attacked by someone. For most of the attack, she was in and out of consciousness, by her own recollection, but when it was over, she said she very clearly heard two sets of feet leave her bedroom," Fin took over when Munch was done. The elder detective had a voicemail on his desk phone and quickly went to listen to it.

"Anything to corroborate her story?" Huang wondered.

"DNA, of the male variety only, on the pants that were on the floor. Underneath said pants was another taunt," Elliot drew the agent's attention to the board where a photo of the note had been tacked up.

"So the taunt has escalated. Her attacker knew that the pants would be looked at and in turn the taunt would be found. The bigger question would be - does he know that his partner left DNA at the scene?" Huang wondered.

"You think he was getting off watching his partner assault Michelle?" Olivia asked.

"I do. No other DNA was found at the crime scenes. Our main attacker makes sure to wear a condom, which means either he's in the system, or he knows about how DNA can be used against him. His second may not be in the system and so it may not matter but it would cause major issues between them if the first man did not realize what the second was doing. That's the danger of bringing a second to the scene," he said.

"We can't go to the press with this. The senior member of the group will just kill his accomplice and disappear," Elliot shook his head.

"Agreed. They are difficult to catch as it is," Huang nodded.

"So Karen left me a message. Turns out that Mark's souvenir baseball wooden bat from the Mets game is missing. I'm running the idea past Melinda to see if it could have been the murder weapon used on Susan. I'm also contacting the hospital to see if our perps used it to hit Michelle or if something else was used," Munch said.

"Those things aren't as hard as real baseball bats but how would it not have splintered when it fractured Susan's skull?" Fin wondered.

"No idea but apparently that is the only thing that jumps out at them as missing. If it isn't the weapon then our attackers brought their own and took it back with them. No weapon was found at Michelle's place either," Olivia frowned.

"Christina Lawrence's attacker brought the weapon so maybe the souvenir bat was just that a souvenir," Captain Cragen suggested.

"Could be. It would fit the profile. The bat would be a record of their conquests and something to remember them by. Was Christina missing anything?" Huang wondered.

"She said she was missing her necklace but we all figured that maybe the homeless guy took it. No one ever found it," Munch said.

"So we need to confirm that Michelle is missing something; then we'll know it's part of the pattern. What has forensics said?" Huang asked.

"Nothing yet. We'll keep giving them the "hurry it up" call," Fin said.

"There has to be something else we can do. I hate sitting on my hands," Elliot frowned.

"I think it's time to make a press release. Captain Cragen, our suspects seem to like your face. Care to give them a little something?" The FBI agent chuckled.


	8. Chapter 8

The press statement went off without a hitch. Regrettably, the result was that the phones inside the precinct wouldn't stop ringing due to the request for people to come forward. Taking calls late into the night, the team was nearing exhaustion when Olivia picked up her phone.

"Manhattan SVU, Detective Benson,"

"Detective…" there was a pause and the hair on the back of her neck went up. She flung the pen she'd had in her hand at Elliot and then grabbed a second one out of her pencil holder.

"Do you have a tip for me? Did you see something?" She pressed. Elliot looked at her and could tell she had no idea who she had on the other end. She mouthed the word "Trace". He quickly called TARU.

"Hard to have missed something since I was there," the voice was being disguised by some sort of voice changer. Considering that anyone could buy one for ten dollars, it really didn't come as a surprise.

"So you're the one that has been leaving the notes then?" This statement got Munch, Fin, and Kenny to turn their attention in her direction.

"Well what fun would it be if I didn't get to know my opponents better? Though it does seem like you're falling behind. I would have thought the Captain would have you guys whipped into better shape," the person on the other end told her. Olivia was pretty sure that she could hear the smirk the perp wore.

"Seems you have us at a disadvantage. I mean how are we supposed to get to know you when you hit your victims over the head like that," she was trying to get something, anything out of him.

"Well if you weren't screwing your partner maybe you'd already have the answer. You know sex does terrible things to the brain," before she could respond the caller hung up. She was frozen in her spot however. She and Elliot were under surveillance and now she began to wonder if the suspect was in some way connected to the higher up who wanted Captain Cragen removed from SVU. How could she spin that to the team without blowing her and Elliot's cover?

"What is it Liv?" Kenny could see the look on her face and he wondered what had happened.

"Did TARU get the location?" She didn't answer his question, instead responding with her own as she hung up her phone.

"It was a cell phone, probably a burner. All we have is a general location, the signal kept moving," Elliot frowned.

"He did that on purpose. Can't trace him if he doesn't hold still," Fin shook his head.

"We have bigger problems," Olivia swallowed. They all looked at her.

"What do you mean?" Munch asked.

"He's been keeping tabs on the unit," she spit out. It was the most generic way to say it without rousing suspicion. Elliot froze in his tracks.

"What did he say?" Munch wanted to know.

"That he thought the Captain would have us whipped into better shape and then he made a comment about my personal life…" she trailed off. Elliot's eyes went wide.

"How does this guy have time to stalk victims and keep tabs on us? Even if there are two of them, they'd have to be skipping sleep," Fin said.

"The only way to do that and to completely not lose your sanity would be to have someone else helping you or to have connections…" Munch narrowed his eyes.

"We know that someone is after the Captain. They sicced IAB on him because that hump Jeffson claimed the Captain was in on the Judge's death. Tucker said it was out of his hands," Elliot said.

"Get Tucker on the horn. In the meantime, I'll bring the Captain up to speed," Munch ordered. Fin's phone rang and he answered it while Olivia tried to reach Tucker, despite the late hour. The Sergeant hadn't made it to the door when he heard Fin shout and slam down the phone.

"What is it?" Kenny asked.

"My son, Ken, just got dumped at the hospital. He's in bad shape," Fin told them. He was already on his feet, pulling his coat on.

"Kenny, you drive. Liv and I will follow, see if we can't get the security tapes," Elliot told them.


	9. Chapter 9

"What do you guys need?" The security officer at the hospital asked. He'd been called to the nurses' desk when Olivia and Elliot flashed their badges and explained the situation.

"I'm Detective Stabler and my partner is Detective Benson. We need to see your tapes for the entrance where the injured young man was dumped off," Elliot flashed his badge.

"You got it. I'm Nick, by the way," the man smiled and the indicated they should head for the elevator. Once inside Nick asked,

"Is he going to be ok?"

"The doctors are working on it. He's got broken bones and some internal bleeding," Olivia frowned.

"I hope the tapes help you catch the guys that did that," the security officer shook his head.

"Did you see it?" Elliot wanted to know.

"We were just changing shifts and that means meeting the guy I'm replacing in the video room. We go over what happened during his shift and then usually I sit down and watch the monitors. He was showing me that one of the lights in the parking lot was malfunctioning and that's when we watched the car pull up and throw that poor guy out onto the pavement. I called it in while Bobby called for all available officers to respond," Nick explained.

"Did Bobby hang around?" Olivia wondered as the exited the elevator. They moved down the hall to a door marked "Security".

"He spoke to the patrol officers that showed up but I don't know if he's still here," the man said as he unlocked the office and let them in. They took the seats he offered them and then worked on cuing up the time frame they were looking for.

"Here we go," Nick said. He played it for them and Olivia cringed. Ken was a good young man and she wasn't sure what happened to get him into trouble but something in the back of her head wondered if this was a way to show the team that they were being watched.

"Ok a late model sedan and we have a partial plate," Elliot said as Nick froze the picture so they could look at the image.

"Could be a solid lead. Call it in and then we better go check on Fin," Olivia told him.

"Agreed," her partner nodded.

"You guys want me to make a copy for you?" Nick asked.

"Yes, we might need it for trial," Elliot said.

"All righty. I hope you catch these guys," the security officer told them as he quickly spun a DVD copy of the video in the computer.

"The sooner, the better," Olivia involuntarily shivered. Her mind was running wild about how this all fit in to what was going on. Then her cell phone rang and she practically jumped out of her skin. Elliot saw how on edge she was. He wished he could say or do something to make her feel better but he knew that none of them would be safe until the bastards were caught.

"Thanks Cap," with that she hung up. He knew that look.

"What is it?" Elliot asked.

"We know who the bastards are who dropped Ken off at the front door. They just had a message delivered to the Captain," Olivia swallowed.

"What did it say?" Her partner wanted to know.

"It said "Do I have your attention now?"," again she swallowed.

"Son of a bitch," Elliot clenched his fists.


	10. Chapter 10

The Captain refused to let any of his detectives go home without an escort. They'd been ordered to grab a change of clothes and anything else they might need and then return to the precinct. Officers were posted outside Ken's hospital room and his mother Theresa was brought there so they could keep a watchful eye on her too. Elliot had called Kathy and told her to head for her sister's place. Even though they were no longer married, he didn't want them home when one or both of the suspects decided to drop by.

"So what do we do now? These guys obviously have us at a disadvantage," Munch said.

"We might finally have some good news! The DNA popped in the system!" Cragen announced as he exited his office. He'd just placed a call to Doctor Huang so he could be brought up to speed.

"Who is it?" Elliot asked.

"A familial match to a Burton Cray. Cray is upstate doing time for assault with a deadly weapon. Seems he and his brother don't get along," the Captain said.

"What did he use on his own brother?" Fin was surprised.

"His car apparently. He claimed that his brother, Charles, tried to attack their mother. Their mother said that she had no idea what he was talking about. With no real reason, for attempting to run his brother over, Burton took a plea but only after he begged the DA to get social services involved," Cragen frowned.

"So he obviously thought there was something going on but his own mother wouldn't back him up. What did the DA do?" Olivia wanted to know.

"They sent social services over there to have a look around. It's obvious that they believed him to some length but he did use his car and he did do it in front of witnesses. Says in the file they knocked it down from attempted murder," the Captain said.

"We need to speak to his mother," Elliot said.

"That'll be hard to do since she died last year. Suspicious circumstances," Cragen's frown continued to deepen.

"Let me guess, she got beat over the head?" Munch wondered.

"Close, she fell down the stairs," the Captain said.

"What made that suspicious? She was an older lady, maybe she tripped," Elliot suggested.

"Perhaps if it had only been one flight she fell down. Somehow she managed to roll down the second flight all on her own," Cragen shook his head.

"If this guy is willing to kill his own mother, killing a perfect stranger, is not that hard," Olivia heaved a sigh.

"Then why is the brother the beta?" Fin asked.

"Because the guy who is the alpha is sicker than he is," Elliot frowned.

"Par for the course then," Munch said.

"Well why don't we see if we can get Charles down here for a little chat?" The Captain posed.

"You think we'll be able to find him at home or at work? I mean they have stepped up their attacks, especially now that they are targeting us," Olivia had to wonder if by now their perps were deviating from their usual schedules.

"We wouldn't want to give away that we're onto them if Charles isn't home or at work. A friendly coworker tells him we've been looking for him and Charles goes underground," Elliot agreed with his partner's assessment.

"On the other hand, he and his buddy could be out scanning for their next victim," Munch said.

"Surveillance might be our best option at first. He doesn't show up, we put an alert out for him," Fin suggested.

"Keeping an eye on him might lead us to his partner. My guess is that once you catch Charles, he won't squeal on his partner," it was Doctor Huang. He had just arrived after hearing there had been a DNA hit.

"All we have on him is DNA at the scene. A good lawyer could argue that the real rapist planted it or that he'd visited the victim before," Elliot didn't like it.

"Exactly, so he won't talk. You need to be able to corner him," Huang agreed.

"All right. Elliot, Olivia, take Charles' home. Fin, Munch, head to his job. We could be in for a long wait," Captain Cragen ordered.


	11. Chapter 11

"So you think this guy is going to come home? I mean he's been trying to trace us this whole time," Olivia wondered.

"He's got to sleep sometime," Elliot smirked, sipping on his coffee. They were sitting in their unmarked car outside Charles Cray's apartment building. They had had the motor pool change the license plates since the suspects were supposedly following them. They hoped that would throw the suspects off.

"What if they're hopped up on something? I mean how are they covering us all this time, working their regular jobs, and sleeping?" Olivia wanted to know.

"You think there is a third guy?" Elliot gave her a look.

"If they aren't hopped up on something, then why not?" She shrugged.

"Makes sense but we just found out there were two of them. Finding a third guy seems next to impossible. Also, whoever it is has to know that they're doing something illegal," he said.

"The alpha has been perfecting his technique as he went across the country. So when he got here, how did he find Cray? Then he manages to find a third guy? Or maybe he bumps into a team already in progress? Somehow this perfect storm occurred and now they're hunting together," Olivia frowned. Elliot had this thoughtful look on his face before grabbing the radio.

"SVU portable to Central," he said.

"This is Central. Go ahead SVU portable," came the reply.

"I need a plate run. It's a white Ford panel van, Alpha, Lima, Charlie, five, nine, six, four," Elliot told them.

"Stand by, SVU portable," came the reply.

"Did I miss something?" Olivia wanted to know.

"That van circled the block, twice," Elliot frowned.

"SVU portable, this is Central," the radio crackled to life.

"Go ahead Central," he said.

"Van is registered to a Charles Cray," Central responded.

"Ten-four, SVU portable out," Elliot answered.

"So you think our guy knows we're here?" Olivia wondered.

"Not sure why else he'd circle the block…" he stopped in the middle of his sentence. The van had stopped up the block and began to parallel park.

"Maybe not. What guy parks if he thinks the cops are here?" Olivia asked. Elliot just shrugged; his eyes never leaving the van and then its driver as he exited the vehicle. Cray was carrying a large black duffel bag.

"What do you think is in that bag?" Olivia wondered.

"Surveillance tool kit? Tell Munch and Fin," Elliot told her. She nodded and grabbed her phone and sent a quick text to the other two detectives. Then she sent a text to Kenny. She had an idea.

"He's fishing around in the duffel for something," her partner suddenly said. That's when Olivia noticed Elliot reaching for his gun. She quickly did the same, unclipping her holster before pulling out her weapon. They watched as Cray pulled out a different set of keys than the ones he used to drive the van.

"Why wouldn't you keep your car keys on the same ring as your house keys?" Olivia asked.

"SVU portable to Central," Elliot suddenly had an idea.

"This is Central. Go ahead SVU portable," the reply came back.

"Does Cray have another vehicle registered in his name?" He wondered.

"Stand by, SVU portable," was the answer. Olivia took the time to alert Munch and Fin that Cray had entered his apartment building. The radio crackled to life but neither partner heard it as the sudden sound of gunfire and bullets whizzing around them.

"Ten-thirteen! Shots fired!" Were the last words over the radio before it went dead.


	12. Chapter 12

"What the hell happened?" Captain Cragen practically hopped out of the car before Kenny had it completely in park. He'd been informed that a pair of his detectives had just radioed a ten-thirteen from their location and that the shooter was in the wind. By the time the two had arrived, the scene had been secured and an ambulance had arrived.

"Liv and Elliot came under fire while they were watching Charles. My guess is that the partner showed up behind them and opened fire," Munch came up to him.

"How bad is it?" Cragen asked as they made their way toward the unmarked car. The ambulance had put on its sirens and pulled away, not waiting for anyone to speak to the two detectives inside.

"Liv took a round in the shoulder and Elliot was grazed by a shot and has cuts and scrapes from breaking out the windshield of their patrol car. Since the shots were coming from behind them, they couldn't safely exit the car through the doors," the sergeant said as the two of them looked at the vehicle. Bullet holes riddled the body and it was unbelievable that none of them had ruptured the gas tank.

"Whose blood is that?" Kenny had circled around to the front of the car, trying to see how Elliot and Olivia had managed to exit their vehicle. There was blood on the hood and there were obvious drops on the ground in front of the grillwork.

"It's Liv's. Don't worry though, she's in good hands," Munch told him.

"It looks like our shooter was aiming for the tires until Liv and Elliot returned fire," Cragen frowned.

"Like he wasn't trying to kill them, just scare the crap out of them," Kenny shook his head.

"Well aiming for the tires could lead to a ricochet so let's assume he meant for them to not walk away," Munch said.

"It's a complete departure from their MO. They've never used guns before so why start now?" Kenny wondered.

"Our alpha knows he can't be spotted and he can't take on two NYPD detectives by himself so he shoots at them," Cragen frowned though. Something was off.

"Cray is gone. I had an officer climb up onto the fire escape to look in the windows after no one answered the door. Once he entered the building, he must have gone out the back," Fin told them as he approached. He and a bunch of patrol officers were canvassing the building for witnesses, trying to make it seem the two detectives who'd been shot at weren't there for anyone in that particular building.

"It was a distraction. They're in the wind and now they know we know one of them lived here. Dammit," the Captain was angry.

"Yeah but we have Cray's apartment and his van. Isn't there a way to gain access to them?" Fin wanted to know.

"The only thing we can do is use what is in plain sight. Look through the windows on the van and have forensics start sifting through the garbage. Maybe we'll get lucky," Cragen told them. Fin and Munch took off to do just that and Kenny turned to his commanding officer.

"Sir, Liv had me run something before this all went down. I think we should get back to the precinct so I can check on it," the young man said.

"What did she have you run?" He asked.

"All of the PI licenses that the state had issued within the last six months," he explained.

"She thinks that our alpha is a PI," Cragen was beginning to see why she thought that was a good idea. A PI is trained to surveil their subjects without them knowing. As a day job, the suspect could then stalk his victims and wait until after Cray got home from work to pick up his partner and go on the hunt.

"Drop me off at the hospital first, I need to see how Liv and Elliot are doing," the Captain said before they headed for the car.


	13. Chapter 13

The next morning, Elliot was discharged from the hospital but instead of leaving, he went right to Olivia's room. The two officers who had been stationed outside her door let him through so he could visit her.

"Hey how are you feeling?" He asked, taking a seat next to her bed. He had a bandage on his upper right arm, while Olivia currently had her left arm in a sling.

"Like hell," she admitted.

"It's my fault," Elliot said. She could see that he was seething. He blamed himself for what had happened despite the fact that no one could have guessed that the suspects had guns.

"Because you have eyes in the back of your head and could see who was back there and what was going to happen," Olivia gave him a look. He looked at her right back.

"I'll be fine. The doctor said that I was lucky. No major lasting damage. I should be out of here in two days tops," she continued.

"The Captain said that your lead about the PIs is panning out. Our list of alphas is down from half of the male population of New York to only a handful of guys. Munch and Fin are running down everything that can be found out about them. Kenny put an APB on Cray. There was no point in hiding what we knew now since they know we know it," Elliot filled her in.

"Any more victims?" Olivia asked.

"Radio silence so far, which isn't much comfort," he admitted. She nodded knowing what he meant. Just because they hadn't heard from them didn't mean they weren't out there right now attacking a new victim or worse still, fleeing the jurisdiction. Elliot reached out and took her right hand in his left and gave it a squeeze.

"I'm still here El," the words came out just barely above a whisper. What they both wanted to do and what they could do were two different things. They were in a public place after all.

"But this could have been so much worse," his words weren't very loud either.

"That's the job. We both signed up for it," she reminded him.

"I know but…" Elliot trailed off. It was a side of himself that he rarely showed. Despite the sometimes rough around the edges persona, she knew there was a softer side that usually only came out when they were in the privacy of one of their apartments. There was a knock on the door and the two quickly let go of each other's hands. Olivia missed the warmth immediately and wished that they didn't have to hide their relationship, despite what it meant.

"How are my detectives?" Captain Cragen asked.

"Better when Liv can get out of here," Elliot admitted.

"I think we'd all agree with that," Cragen winked at Olivia.

"Any news on the case?" She asked.

"Well your hunch about PIs has really helped but we have sightings of Cray coming in from all over. So far nothing has panned out but they have to feel the noose tightening in the tristate area," the Captain said.

"They now have quite the laundry list of crimes. I have to wonder if someone would help them just because they're scared of them," Elliot said.

"It's a point which is why we hope the APB will turn up something. If it doesn't they could slip through our fingers and take up shop in some unsuspecting community," Cragen frowned. That's when the Captain's phone went off. He quickly excused himself and answered the call, close to the doorway.

"That can't be good," Olivia frowned as she watched his facial expressions shift during the call.

"Yeah definitely not," her partner agreed. It wasn't long and Cragen was back.

"What is it?" Olivia asked.

"There's another body," he frowned.


	14. Chapter 14

"What have we got?" Elliot asked as he approached Munch and Fin at the crime scene. The body had been discovered out behind a gas station. The clerk had gone out there to throw out the garbage and got the shock of his life when he found a pair of feet sticking out in between the dumpsters.

"Shouldn't you be at home, resting?" The Sergeant gave him a look.

"I'm taking him there. This was on the way," the Captain spoke up. The scene was not on the way to Elliot's apartment but no one was going to argue with the leader of the unit.

"Well we got a bit of a surprise when we got here," Fin said.

"What do you mean?" Elliot was confused.

"The victim isn't a woman, but had he lived, he might have thought about becoming one," Munch said. By now, Elliot's and the Captain's eyebrows were raised. They both went to look at the victim.

"Good God," Elliot shook his head as he returned to Fin and Munch.

"So I guess our APB is now useless," Cragen said.

"Gentlemen, getting ahead of me are we?" Melinda asked.

"This one seems open and shut Doc," Munch frowned. The coroner gave him a look before heading for the body. She did a cursory examination and said,

"So I'm guessing you guys are involved because his family jewels got cut off."

"We're here because that is Charles Cray, our suspect," Cragen frowned.

"Ah so that explains that," she nodded.

"Damn. We're never going to catch his partner now," Fin shook his head.

"We have to hope that Liv's lead pans out. If not, then you're right. If he's careful when he rapes his victims then he had to be careful when killing his accomplice," Munch heaved a sigh.

"It's obvious that he didn't kill Charles here. There'd be more blood. So it's a dump job. With the van unable to be used, he had to kill him somewhere nearby," Elliot said.

"He's been dead for over two hours. If your guy was smart, he's long gone," Melinda told them, checking on the victim's liver temperature.

"Damn!" Elliot cursed.

"Security cameras! Fin, get the cameras from the gas station. Munch, go next door and see what the bank has. Maybe we'll get lucky," the Captain barked orders. Elliot looked around the scene. There had to be something there. Their suspect had to have screwed up somehow.

"Captain! Do you see what I see?" Elliot suddenly asked.

"What?" Cragen whirled around.

"The intersection in front of the gas station has a traffic camera!" Elliot pointed out.

"I'm making a call to TARU," the Captain quickly pulled out his cell phone and punched in the number they needed.

"Morales is on it. Now, I have to get you to your apartment. You aren't cleared for duty just yet. IAB is going to want to talk to you," Cragen told him.

"Let them find me at the precinct then. I'm not resting until this bastard is caught," Elliot said. The Captain wanted to argue but he knew that that would be useless.

"Fine, then you ride a desk and you even ask Kenny to get a tissue to blow your nose with, you got it?" The Captain gave him a look. Elliot just nodded, knowing that that was the best he could hope for until IAB had finished their investigation. Quickly, Cragen told Fin and Munch to bring all the footage they got to TARU and breathe down the tech's neck until they found something before heading back to the car with Elliot.


	15. Chapter 15

"What time is it?" Munch asked. He was slumped over the lab table where he'd been watching TARU tech Morales try to scan through the footage from the traffic camera. The security cameras at the gas station had been a bust. None of them pointed toward the dumpsters because who would want to be stealing garbage after all.

"Half past I should have been in bed four hours ago," Fin heaved a sigh as he walked over from the computer that TARU had let him borrow to view the bank security videos.

"Find anything?" Morales asked without looking away from the footage he was reviewing. The problem was they only had a time window in which Melinda believed the body had been dead which meant they had to check a large time window without any witnesses to say they saw someone dump Charles Cray in between the dumpsters. Since it was a dump job, they didn't have anything else to go on and Elliot was with Kenny at the precinct still sifting through the private investigator records. They had eliminated a few but still six men remained on their list.

"The ATM is on the corner of the building. What I got was the street so that one was no help but the one that sits above the ATM pans so we get a glimpse of the dumpster every few seconds but I haven't found anything in the window. Shouldn't I have at least seen something?" Fin wondered. Morales stopped what he was doing and gave him a look.

"Munch take over for me. Fin show me what you mean," the tech said. The detective nodded and walked back over to the computer screen.

"See the time stamp is within the window but I searched the whole time frame and we didn't even get a shot of the body after it was dumped," Fin explained. Morales leaned in closer to the screen.

"The shadows are off," after he stared at the screen for what seemed an eternity.

"You think someone doctored the tape?" The detective asked. Munch heard this and abandoned the computer he'd been looking at.

"No, I think someone got sloppy and didn't follow daylight savings time," Morales said as the elder detective moved over to them.

"Which means we have our window!" Munch was almost giddy.

"It does. Fin cue it up at the end of the time window you were watching. Our guy has to be in this hour," the tech said. Fin nodded and quickly fast forwarded to where he'd left off. The three crowded around the screen watching for something, anything, which would lead to the alpha of the criminal pair.

"You need some more coffee?" Kenny asked. Both he and Elliot had been trying to narrow the list of private investigators down.

"I don't think coffee will work anymore. I've passed the point of exhaustion and the only thing left in my veins is coffee," Elliot rubbed his eyes with his good hand, wishing that his injured arm would be healed already, no matter how ridiculous the thought was.

"Then maybe it's time you caught some sleep in the cribs. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if IAB tries to swing by in a few hours," the younger detective said.

"We gotta catch this guy," Elliot told him.

"He's killed his partner. Either he's on the run already or he's lying low. He knows we're onto him and he has to be careful. Besides, we can't narrow down the list of guys until Fin and Munch get the tapes sorted," Kenny pointed out. Elliot nodded and was about to take his suggestion when the Captain walked out of his office.

"What's going on?" Kenny asked, noticing the look on Cragen's face.

"Munch and Fin have something," Don told them.

"Shouldn't that be a good thing?" Elliot raised an eyebrow.

"The taillight on the car was punched out and there was a hand waving out of it. They've issued an APB but we're hours behind the video," Cragen delivered the news.


	16. Chapter 16

There was a knock on the hospital door and Olivia bade whomever it was to enter. She was reading through the text messages she'd received from Fin. There was a missing woman and there was no way to know where she was as the APB had come up empty so far. However, they did have a name of the woman who'd been kidnapped – Molly Sanders. No one had seen the kidnapping but when she didn't report to work, a coworker swung over to her place to find the front door had been damaged and the first floor apartment a mess. He'd quickly called the police and the hunt was on.

"Hi Liv," Olivia looked up from her phone, surprised to find Maureen Stabler standing there.

"Maureen, please have a seat. What brings you here?" the detective figured that getting out of school hadn't been easy. While she was looking at colleges, Maureen still had to finish her junior and senior years in high school.

"I wanted to make sure you were ok," the eldest Stabler child said as she sat down in the chair next to Olivia's hospital bed. While Elliot had told her that he'd told the kids about her being in the hospital, she figured there was more to it.

"And you cut class to do it?" Olivia raised an eyebrow.

"It's only study hall and I'm hoping Mom doesn't find out," Maureen admitted.

"What's going on sweetie?" Now Olivia was concerned. Cutting study hall was one thing but coming to talk to her instead of her mother was another. Maureen took a deep breath and said,

"Mom is getting paranoid again."

"You think her medicine is out of whack?" Olivia asked.

"Well that's thing, I'm not sure it's a medical problem. Kathleen has been acting up lately and I think Mom is concerned but she refuses to say anything," Maureen told her.

"How does that make your Mom paranoid?" The detective was confused.

"I think she's concerned about the custody arrangement if there is something wrong with Kathleen and she didn't notice it fast enough," the teenager explained.

"What do you think is wrong with Kathleen?" Olivia wanted to know. She could understand Kathy being secretive if she couldn't understand her second child's problem. They all knew that Kathleen had not taken the divorce well and had always been more of a rebel than her older sister.

"At first I just figured she was struggling with the divorce but now, I really have no idea. Some days she seems like two different people," Maureen heaved a sigh.

"And you didn't say anything until now?" Olivia was a little concerned.

"Mom has been pulling a lot of doubles lately and Dad had to skip our visitation because of this case you guys are working. There hasn't been time to track either one down, truth be told, I wasn't sure how they'd react," she said.

"All right. You let me worry about it and get back to school. I don't want you getting in trouble," the detective told her. Maureen stood up and gave her a gentle hug.

"Thanks Liv," she smiled when she pulled back.

"You bet kiddo. Tray and have a good day," Olivia smiled back.

"When do you get out of here?" Maureen asked.

"Hopefully tomorrow. The doctor joked that they are going to have to name a wing after me if I stay much longer. Seems I've run out of stamp spaces on my frequent visitor card," Olivia joked. Maureen chuckled and said goodbye. Olivia watched her go and was about to check her phone again when it rang. She picked it up and found it was Elliot.

"Fin and Munch are in hot pursuit of the stolen car but we have no way of knowing where Molly is," he quickly told her.

"I hope she's in that trunk, otherwise…" they both knew what she meant. It was possible they could be looking for another body dump.


	17. Chapter 17

Fin and Munch were in pursuit of the vehicle that had been stolen and there were three patrol cars behind them trying to keep up. The suspect was blowing through red lights in an attempt to lose his pursuers but so far it wasn't working.

"If he's got Molly in that trunk and they get t-boned by someone…" Munch let the thought die.

"I know that's why I'm trying to catch him without getting us killed in the process," Fin said as he pressed his foot down harder on the accelerator. The car groaned but acquiesced as the speed indicator passed sixty-five miles an hour. The vehicle was not used to this kind of speed as most times the city streets only allowed for forty or forty-five miles an hour.

"And I appreciate that," Munch told him before picking up the radio and trying to reach out to anyone in the vicinity.

"This is SVU portable to all available units. We are in high speed pursuit of a red late model Honda, missing a taillight, license plate Echo Bravo Delta one three five seven, from the APB issued earlier. We are on Ninth Avenue. He could be heading for the Lincoln Tunnel with a kidnap victim in the trunk. Any and all assistance is requested," the Sergeant said.

"ESU to SVU portable. Force him toward the tunnel. We've got Ninth Avenue blocked off right before the tunnel entrance. Have rerouted traffic down West Thirty-Eighth," came a reply.

"Ten-four," Munch responded.

"They must have a spike strip or something down since the entrance to the tunnel is at West Thirty-Seventh. That only gives them a block to stop him," Fin said without removing his eyes from the road.

"I hope so because if he gets in that tunnel and causes an accident, he'll flee and leave poor Molly to die," Munch frowned as the car swerved around someone who tried to cut in front of them.

"If she isn't already dead," Fin hated to admit it but it was true.

"SVU portable to ESU. We're coming up on West Thirty-Ninth. Brace for suspect," Munch announced over the radio. Fin saw taillights in front of him and he slammed on the brakes, forcing both detectives forward. The seatbelts tightened to protect their cargo. The brakes screeched, leaving rubber on the road.

In front of them, the red Honda drove over the spike strip dropped by ESU. The front tires burst and the front end of the car veered to the right, swinging the back end around. The back tires caught the strip as it whirled around with the car, effectively flattening the remaining tires. When the vehicle came to a stop, it was facing Fin and Munch's standard issue car.

"Freeze!" ESU had swarmed the car so the suspect couldn't escape. While most of the team surrounded the car, some team members headed for the trunk, hoping to find Molly Sanders.

Munch and Fin exited their car to join ESU. Fin could feel the burn across his body from the seatbelt digging into him but he ignored it. Molly could be bleeding out in the trunk. The suspect was pulled out of the car and quickly cuffed. He refused to give his name but that didn't stop the arrest.

"You guys need medical attention?" The ESU team leader Andrews asked as they approached the car.

"We'll be fine," Fin said.

"What did you guys find? Where is Molly?" Munch wanted to know.

"The trunk is empty," Andrews frowned.


	18. Chapter 18

"We've been sweating this guy for an hour and his story hasn't changed. Does forensics have anything?" Fin asked the Captain as he exited the interrogation room. The man who had been found in the car was Felipe Rodrigo. He'd been living on the streets and when a man had offered him the car with a full tank of gas, he thought he'd just won the lottery. That was until the police started chasing him.

"You have the description of the guy who gave him the car out. Elliot and Kenny are trying to match it to pictures of our PIs. Forensics is dusting and running prints. The worst of it is, the trunk wasn't completely empty. There was blood," Cragen frowned.

"This guy is always two steps ahead. What do you want to do with Felipe?" Fin wanted to know.

"Book him for possessing stolen property and the traffic violations," the Captain said. Fin nodded and headed back into the interrogation room. Cragen headed out to the bullpen where Kenny was on the phone and Elliot was texting someone.

"What's going on?" He asked once Kenny was off the phone.

"We got our guy. The description matches Kenneth Smith. I've amended the APB," the younger detective said.

"I just told Liv. Without her hunch, we'd be lost," Elliot smiled.

"Well we all seem very happy," Ed Tucker walked into the squad room.

"I'll be happier when my detective is cleared for duty," Cragen frowned.

"You and I both know how bad this could have gone. I need to see you and Stabler in your office," Tucker told them. Elliot wasn't sure he was going to like where this was going but he did as he was told.

Once the door to the Captain's office was closed and everyone had taken a seat, Tucker cleared his throat and for the first time, Elliot could see he was bothered by something.

"So what's going on? Elliot and Olivia had no choice but return fire. They're lucky they aren't dead!" Cragen was already worked up.

"I'm not here for that, well that's not entirely true. I'm going to take Stabler's statement and then I'm going to call it a good use of force. I already grabbed Benson's statement," Tucker said.

"All righty so why all the secrecy?" Elliot asked.

"I think I found out who has been gunning for this unit," the IAB Sergeant told them.

"Someone we know?" Cragen asked.

"Deputy Chief Robertson. I believe you have history," Tucker said. Cragen swore under his breath as Elliot looked at his leader.

"What did we do to him?" The detective wanted to know.

"It isn't what this unit did. It's what I did, fifteen years ago," Cragen frowned. Elliot's eyebrows went up.

"Let me handle him. He skated before because he had friends in high places. This time around, the department is different. The current commissioner is all about transparency and avoids showing favor. No one will stick their necks out for him. If we nail him now, then this unit can keep doing what it's been doing, catching the bad guys," Sergeant Tucker said. That's when there was a knock on the door and the Captain bade Munch to enter.

"I hate to interrupt but we got a report of a body," the elder detective heaved a sigh.

"Is it Molly?" Elliot asked.

"Officers aren't sure. It sounds like she was beat to hell," Munch shook his head and left the office.


	19. Chapter 19

"Damn," Fin shook his head. He and Munch stood in the exam room at the coroner's office. Melinda had just confirmed the body's identity via her fingerprints.

"He beat the hell out of her. I couldn't even use her dental records to identify her. If her employer hadn't had her fingerprints on file from their fingerprint punch-in machine, I wouldn't have had a way to ID her," Melinda heaved a sigh.

"Why poor Molly?" Munch asked.

"Why any of these other poor girls? He just likes getting his rocks off on these poor girls and then using them as his own punching bag," Melinda said.

"I hope that APB finds him. He goes underground and he'll just pop back up somewhere else. Then he'll just go and start all over again," Fin forced air through his lips.

"Elliot got a hold of Huang. The FBI is putting their muscle behind the case, especially since more cities have possible links to him," Munch told them.

"Then the only thing left to do is sit on our hands until our guy pops up," Melinda smiled slightly and covered poor Molly Sanders back up before sliding the poor dead girl back into the coroner's refrigerator.

"Let's go tell the parents," Fin frowned.

"Everyone's favorite part of the job," Munch heaved a sigh. The two thanks Melinda and then headed out to their unmarked car.

"Maureen said that?" Elliot asked Olivia. He'd gone to visit her and get an update on how she was doing. With that came the unexpected conversation about what had happened with his eldest daughter.

"She did. I don't want her to get in trouble but she skipped school and came to talk to me, which means she was afraid to mention it to her parents," his partner told him.

"Well you've managed to worm your way into Maureen's heart," he smirked.

"Yeah that's me. I like to worm," Olivia gave him a look. His response was to put his hand over hers, with his body blocking the view, the officers out in the hall couldn't see.  _I love you_ , he mouthed. She winked; it was the best she could do under the circumstances.

"I'll talk to Maureen. We'll have a lot more time since Huang and the FBI got involved. Since we know who he is and have his fingerprints as a condition of being a PI, other cities have matched him to other crimes. The APB has yet to turn up anything," Elliot was back talking shop.

"I guess we're onto our next case. Well sort of. Did Tucker talk to you?" Olivia asked.

"He did. I'll be back to full duty as soon as my arm heals up. What about you? Weren't you supposed to be leaving this morning?" He wanted to know.

"Yeah… Doctor Beresford wanted to run one more scan. He wanted to make sure my neck didn't get kinked up, especially after I had tingling in my arm last night," she sighed.

"They find anything?" Now he was concerned.

"The scan came back negative. I'm already on thin ice after what happened to my neck and the Chief of D's stopped by to check on me. One more field injury and its permanent desk duty until I get my twenty in," her eyes started to well up. She didn't know what else she would do with her life. Until Elliot, the job was her life.

"Hey, this comes with the job. You are not the job. You are a wonderful human being. You can do whatever you want. I will support you. Right now, let's just focus on you getting better and you getting back on duty," he told her.

"Good because I had the doctors run a few tests off the record," Olivia admitted.

"What for?" More concern was evident in his voice.

"My cycle was late. I was concerned. Then I had bad cramping and all of a sudden my cycle started. I'm on the pill. Something is wrong," she said. At this point, he no longer cared what the officers out in the hall thought. Elliot climbed onto the bed and pulled her close.

"We'll get this figured out," he promised, kissing her temple.


	20. Chapter 20

" _The nationwide manhunt for Kenneth Smith ended this evening in a hail of gunfire which was perhaps the way that Smith wanted it. Despite multiple attempts to get him to lower his weapon, the NYPD and FBI agents were forced to fire on Smith when he began shooting at them. One police officer who was interviewed called it "suicide by cop". His death means that Smith will never see the inside of a jail cell and the victims and their families are left with no justice. Though there are some who are calling his death, and the death of his partner, Charles Cray, to be its own form of justice. Neither man will be harming anyone ever again and that seems to be enough. Still in this reporter's opinion, the answer to the big question "Why?" will always remain. This is Emily Price reporting from the scene in Lower Manhattan. Back to you Chet,"_  the TV blared the news at the bar.

"Another one for the good guys, I'd say," the bartender, Mickey, nodded before turning the sound down again.

"I suppose it is but I think the reporter had a point. I know we're all asking why," Olivia smiled slightly at him. It had been a long day and a week since she'd gotten out of the hospital. The guys were supposed to be meeting her for a drink after they wrapped up their reports. When the call had come in, Cragen had alerted her that Fin, Munch, Kenny, and Elliot were heading to the scene.

"Sometimes the reason why will make your head spin. Another round?" Mickey asked her.

"That'd be great," she nodded. Smith had been hiding out in an old abandoned building down on the docks, presumably waiting to steal aboard a ship, when a few dock workers realized that the lock on the door had been busted.

The space in front of the building was being used as a loading and unloading area so it was busier than usual. Bad luck for Smith but good luck for the rest of humanity. When a dock worker backed the forklift he was driving too close to the building, the front door had moved, even though it shouldn't have. They told the supervisor, who probably figured it was just homeless people but then decided he'd better call the police upon hearing about the manhunt on for the serial rapist and killer.

Once the building had been surveilled to see if it was in fact Smith using the building, backup was called in and the showdown began. Now all that was left was a mess to clean up and the final reports from the FBI and NYPD. Olivia wished she could have been there but she wouldn't be cleared for anything more than desk duty for a few more weeks.

"There she is," Elliot's voice broke her from her thoughts.

"You guys made it. How much camera time did Munch hog up?" Olivia teased as she left her seat at the bar and the group picked an empty table in the back corner.

"All of mine," Kenny joked.

"He'd have kept going if the reporter hadn't moved the mike to the Captain," Fin chuckled.

"I'm just glad this is over, despite how photogenic I am," Munch smirked.

"Amen to that," Elliot said. One of the barmaids came over and took their food and drink order before Olivia asked,

"Where's the Captain anyway?"

"The Feds wanted to talk to him. Probably just to make sure this all gets wrapped up with a neat little bow. Tucker has already cleared everyone and whoever is trying to screw us over seems to have gone silent. Hard to dismantle our unit when we stopped a serial killer on TV," Kenny explained.

"A very good point, young man," Cragen had come up behind them. The cab had just dropped him off.

"We were just talking about you. Your ears ringing?" Munch joked. The Captain laughed and then sat down. They had a good time, thankful that the case was over but knowing that there was another lurking around the corner.

Later, at Olivia's apartment, she and Elliot were getting ready for bed. He refused to let her recover on her own, despite how many times she'd told him that she could. However, she suspected it had something to do with what the doctor's had discovered during her tests.  
"How are you feeling?" He asked as he helped her get into bed. With her arm in a sling, she had to practically sleep in a seated position. Olivia had enough pillows to prop herself up but it wasn't very comfortable. Elliot had suggested an adjustable bed might be in order.

"Better. Still a little pain but nothing I can't handle," She said. The tests had found polyps in her uterus but nothing that was cancerous. They were removed and a tissue sample of cyst on one of her ovaries was taken. The tests on the cyst had come back negative as well and the doctors had recommended she see her OB/GYN about them, in case that was just something her body did. It wasn't uncommon for older women to develop cysts that would break every time they started their cycle. The cysts were usually benign and nothing to worry about unless pain or other symptoms developed.

"Well you can't mix your pain medication with alcohol so I hope you can wait until the morning to take some more pills," he told her.

"Aye aye sir," Olivia chuckled. She was a little drunk but then again so was he when he started laughing at her joke. Both of them were right on the edge of being sober enough that they knew they needed to call a cab and drunk enough to have fun without being stupid.

"I'm just glad that you're going to be ok," Elliot said when he stopped laughing.

"Me too," Olivia smiled. She watched him manage to get out of his own clothes and climb into bed next to her with only his boxers on. They both knew that she wouldn't be able to do any extracurricular activities in the bedroom for at least a week but she was wishing it wasn't so. There was an urge to feel connected to him that she'd never had with anyone else.

"Dream dirty dreams," he chuckled before kissing her on her cheek. They both snuggled down into the bed and fell asleep, glad for each other's company.

* * *

  _A/N: Only an epilogue to go..._


	21. Epilogue

A few weeks passed and Olivia was back to full duty. Elliot had been back to full duty two weeks prior and had managed to be at the shootout with Kenneth Smith only because no one was going to tell him "no". He had spoken to Kathy about Kathleen but they were still struggling with what to do. Not wanting her to get upset but knowing something was wrong made things even more complicated. So they decided that Kathy's friend, who was a therapist, might be their best bet.

Now, however, the two of them were at Olivia's OB/GYN's office, waiting to hear what the doctor had to say regarding what the hospital had found.

"Olivia, I'm glad that the hospital caught this and passed it along. Luckily, they were just benign but I'm thinking we'll need to keep a closer eye on your body," Doctor Diana Schneider said as she sat down on the small stool near the exam table. Gloving up, she disappeared from the detective's view, under the cover that was over her legs.

"You see this being a recurring problem?" Olivia was very nervous and she was gripping Elliot's hand. He was sitting in a chair next to the exam table, up near her chest. She felt him kiss her temple and whisper that he loved her into her ear. He swore that she was worried the doctor was going to find something else wrong. Then the doctor popped back out from under the cover, removing her gloves.

"First, I know it took a little longer than we hoped but everything looks great and I would say that you can get back to doing everything you usually do. I don't mean to pry but you're intending to do any rough stuff, I'd wait another week.

"Second, the cyst could be due to your pill. When you take a high hormone dose, it isn't uncommon to have your body develop them. Usually they burst on their own and there is nothing to worry about. The polyps are a different story. I think I should see you three times this year so we can see if they grow back. If they don't, we can go back to the once a year," the doctor told her.

"Ok," the patient swallowed.

"Hey, I will be here for every appointment, if you need me," Elliot told her, kissing her temple again. It was unlike her to seem so vulnerable and he wondered if there was something on her mind.

"It's good that you have someone to support you. Now do you have any questions for me?" Diana wanted to know.

"Just one, will this affect my ability to have kids?" Olivia asked. Her question surprised him but now he understood. While they had not talked about children, he was definitely interested in having at least one with his partner. Of course they still had to tell the Captain and IAB that they were officially an item, so there was that.

"Well that is a complex question. I certainly wouldn't try until we're fairly sure that this has passed. However, given your age, I wouldn't wait too much after this is sorted. So this is what I would suggest," the doctor turned to the desk behind her, opened a drawer, and pulled out some pamphlets.

"Read these and talk it over. Let me know your thoughts, the next time you come to see me. Write down any questions you have," Diana smiled.

"Ok thanks," Olivia smiled slightly.

"You are most welcome," the doctor said before heading out of the door. Elliot helped Olivia up off the exam table and started to hand her, her clothes. They didn't say much as she got dressed. Once outside the room, they headed back to the reception area where the receptionist made another appointment for Olivia three months from now.

"So are you going to say something or are we just not going to say anything?" Olivia asked once they were shut into the car. Elliot set the keys on the dash, turned to her, pulled her as close as he could and kissed her.

"I guess that answers that," she smirked when they parted.

"There are not enough words. I want to show you how I feel about us having kids," he said.

"Then you better use the lights and sirens," Olivia chuckled.

"Yes ma'am," Elliot winked, grabbed the keys, and fired up the engine. Before they knew it, they were back inside Olivia's place. The front door was closed and locked and they didn't emerge until the next morning when they needed to head to work.

**The End**


End file.
